Starting a new business is full of unexpected challenges. Knowing exactly the right path to take is always a bit of a mystery. Even if things don’t end up going your way you never want to have any regrets. You can live with mistakes but regrets will eat you alive. One of the things that make real estate investing so great is that you can learn a lot just by listening to the people around you. Hearing a horror story from a fellow investor may just save you from making the same mistake. Here are the seven most common business regrets you need to avoid.
- Not Trusting Your Instinct. As a real estate investor you are in control of your business. Even though there are plenty of outside voices you have the final say as to the path you want your business to take. It is important that you balance out evaluating any advice you are given with staying true to your beliefs. What you never want to have happen is to ignore your instincts when they end up being right. This doesn’t mean you should invest without any due diligence. It means that if you put the time in you should feel confident enough to trust your instinct. Your instinct is usually right more than you give it credit for.
- Trying To Do Too Much. There are plenty of moving parts for any new business. In real estate it is easy to get pulled in several different directions. As difficult as it may be you need to always fight the urge to do too much. There is a difference in working hard and working smart. Hard work may seem like an essential business quality but there are times when it actually hurts you. By spreading yourself too thin not only does it decrease your efficiency but it increases your chances for burnout. The alternative is surrounding yourself with a quality team that shares your vision. There is nothing wrong with allocating some projects and learning to let go.
- Maximizing Time. There are only so many hours in a day. What you do with them is entirely up to you. A popular business regret is not making use of every second of your day. As a new investor it is easy getting caught up on projects that don’t produce a great return. While you are working hard you aren’t really getting anything done. At the end of a few months you are disappointed in your results and wonder where your time went.
- Not Learning From Mistakes. The path you have in mind for your business may not always be where it ends up. Almost every successful investor has a unique story for how they go to where they are. What is fairly universal is that there were plenty of mistakes along the way. The key is accepting that mistakes will be made and, more importantly, learning from them. If you do not learn from your mistakes you are bound to make them again. All it takes is one major mistake to completely throw your business for a loop.
- Risk Not Equaling Reward. It is human nature to want to move things in your business as quickly as possible. This is magnified if you are still finding your way and searching for your first few deals. Where investors get in trouble is when the risk does not equal the reward. By taking on deals that have slim profit margins you have little margin for error. Even the slightest oversight can cause you to scramble around just to break even on a property. Doing this puts you behind the eight ball on future deals and leaves you gun shy when good deals come your way.
- Growing Too Fast. If your business is going well it is ok to leave things alone. One of the biggest regrets for any business is growing too fast. It is engrained in our minds to strive to instantly become the leader in whatever business we are in. There is nothing wrong with leaving things just how they are and growing at a sustainable pace. By striving to grow too fast too soon you leave your business vulnerable. You can end up dumping all of your assets in one basket and when things don’t work out you are left wondering what happened. Small, sustainable growth is always better than shooting for the moon and coming up short.
- Waiting To Take Action. Real estate investing success is there for the taking. You have as much chance of getting your offer accepted as someone who has been in the business for years. It is only when you realize this that you truly begin to see all the possibilities. You don’t have to wait until you are successful to network, market and close deals. You can run your business the way you like from day one. The longer you wait to take action the more you will regret waiting.
It is always better learning from the regrets of others instead of making them on your own. While you will certainly make some mistakes and have your own regrets you want to keep them as minimal as possible. Regardless of where you are in your business always avoid these seven common investing mistakes.
